UNESCO CHAIR OF GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION

Round Table

University at the Crossroads: Integration or Fragmentation?

8 - 9 May 2009,
Hall F-5 of the Music Academy of the University of Zagreb,
Frankopanska 22, Zagreb

Organized by the University of Zagreb UNESCO Chair of Governance and Management of Higher Education group (Matko Barišić, Pavel Gregorić, Ksenija Grubišić, Helena Jasna Mencer, Marko Rogošić, Hrvoje Šikić and Ksenija Turković), with generous assistance of Aleksa Bjeliš.

Universities across Europe are facing considerable academic, economic, and administrative challenges. These challenges can be met in various ways, e.g. by narrowing missions and activities of universities, dividing larger universities into smaller ones corresponding to the main areas of teaching and research, etc. On the other hand, some argue that it is better to merge smaller universities into larger ones or to preserve existent larger universities intact with some degree of operational autonomy granted to their constituents. These views are neither mutually exclusive nor exhaustive, but open a range of possibilities best suited to individual universities.

University of Zagreb, Croatia's largest and leading university, has to meet the same challenges, and variants of these views have their advocates. The purpose of this two-day Round Table is to have these views tested, recent experiences aired, and current trends captured by renowned experts and highest university officials from abroad and from Croatia.

The Round Table will be organized in three sessions, each starting with a longer introductory speech (40 min) delivered by a distinguished guest from abroad, followed by a shorter speech (20min) by a participant from Croatia and a discussion bloc. Five guests from Croatia and abroad will be invited to open each discussion bloc with short presentations (5-7 min) which will motivate a fruitful open-floor discussion.

PROGRAMME